IHOR Lakatosh struggles to describe his life before surgery, when his severe burns went untreated for years in his native Ukraine, leaving him with one arm fused to his body, unable to walk and abandoned by his mother.

The 11-year-old boy, however, smiles widely and repeatedly makes the sign of the cross when he describes how he feels now, after a series of surgeries and physical therapy at a Boston charity hospital.

“Thank you I can walk. Thank you I can walk. Thank you Lord, I can walk,” he says through an interpreter.

Ihor returned to Boston early this year for a second round of procedures, and has been spending time showing off his newfound ability to walk, take off his jacket and climb onto a bed.

No one knows the details surrounding the fire that burned 30 per cent of Ihor’s body when he was about three years old. He was severely malnourished and unable to walk or bend his arms when neighbours in Lviv, Ukraine, urged his mother to take him to a hospital in 2011, doctors said.

Taking his first steps again ... Ihor Lakatosh at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Picture: Michael DwyerSource:AP

She did, and never came back. The hospital couldn’t pay for extensive treatment of Ihor. Staff there thought he was mentally impaired and took him to a special orphanage for children with cerebral palsy.

The orphanage director contacted a Ukrainian burn physician, who got in touch with Boston-based anesthesiologist Dr Gennadiy Fuzaylov, also Ukrainian, and sent him a photo of the boy.

Fuzaylov and plastic surgeon Dr Daniel Driscoll run a non-profit organisation, Doctors Collaborating to Help Children, which works to improve medical care for children in various countries.

Very excited ... Ihor Lakatosh, right, jokes with Dr. Gennadiy Fuzaylov during a visit for therapy at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Picture: Michael DwyerSource:AP

Through the organisation, they brought Ihor to Boston’s Shriners Hospital for Children two years ago. The philanthropic hospital specialises in severe burns.

He was about 8 or 9 years old when he arrived and weighed less than 13.6 kilograms, half the average weight for a boy his age. The boy hadn’t walked since he was burned.

“His initial surgery was done to bring his arm away from his body where it had completely scarred to his torso. That was a big one,” Driscoll said. Other operations gave Ihor the ability to bend his knees and each was followed by extensive physical therapy to straighten elbows, shoulders and legs.

Physicians struggled to figure out why the boy wasn’t eating properly, until they discovered 14 rotten teeth they had to extract.

Playing around ... Ihor Lakatosh crawls out of a cloth tunnel as therapist Katherine Hartigan watches at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Picture: Michael DwyerSource:AP

Doctors also determined that Ihor wasn’t mentally impaired at all; he simply had never been to school and his time spent with mentally impaired children also undermined his development.

Ihor was sent back to the orphanage in Ukraine after his first set of surgeries and will return there next month where he remains up for adoption.

But for now, he is focused on enjoying his new life in his improved body, relishing his favourite food (chicken) and trying to entertain just about everyone around him. The painful surgeries and therapies have not diminished Ihor’s enthusiasm to reclaim his childhood.

So happy ... Ihor Lakatosh lies on a bed during a visit for therapy at Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Picture: Michael DwyerSource:AP

“I can do everything now. I can go to school ... I can go outside and play. I can eat by myself. I can go home and do my homework. I can go to bed by myself,” he said through an interpreter. “I can do everything by myself. I can live a life now.”

The 11-year-old boy, however, smiles widely and repeatedly makes the sign of the cross when he describes how he feels now, after a series of surgeries and physical therapy at a Boston charity hospital.

“Thank you I can walk. Thank you I can walk. Thank you Lord, I can walk,” he says through an interpreter.